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Are vegetables a free-food?

05-07-2013, 12:31 AM

I hear fairly well established guys saying that veggies are a free-food and don't account them for calories since it takes more energy to burn than they contain thus they are a free-food. How true is this? Should we be adding them to our total calories intake or not?

Comment

Because I want to. The purpose is because I want to reach my goals via tracking calories. I am fully aware that you don't always have to do this.

Then, I would say: if your veggie is starchy, yes (like pumpkin or butternut squash). Otherwise no, it would be a second or third order detail when most of the calories are from fat, protein and sugars. Moreover, veggies contain quite some fibers and other components which make them not so easily absorbed, which will mislead you in your the calorie counting.

Comment

Energy expenditure, or how you body uses nutrients for energy, is mostly controlled by hormones. If you have enough energy stored, you will use that energy, otherwise, your hormones will trigger hunger so you fill up your body with energy and other nutrients that serve the homeostatic balance. So I would not give too much focus on the calorie thing. It is a gross estimate at best. I would rather trust my body signals (hunger, satiety, stamina, etc) but again, I will not discourage you to follow up on the calorie counting. Note that your body does not "burn" calories like a calorimeter - keep this in mind.

Comment

A serving of leaf or stalk vegetables is typically 5~15 kcal, and whether or not they're expended in digestion I seriously doubt that any tally attempting that level of precision is going to be informative or helpful. The margin of error on the fat and protein foods is going to be ~10% anyway so it's a fool's errand IMO.

However, every food contains a lot of non-energy components with their own consequences. If you're eating enough vegetables to accrue significant calories then I'd worry about unbalanced gut flora, allergens, and other toxins first.

Comment

A serving of leaf or stalk vegetables is typically 5~15 kcal, and whether or not they're expended in digestion I seriously doubt that any tally attempting that level of precision is going to be informative or helpful. The margin of error on the fat and protein foods is going to be ~10% anyway so it's a fool's errand IMO.

However, every food contains a lot of non-energy components with their own consequences. If you're eating enough vegetables to accrue significant calories then I'd worry about unbalanced gut flora, allergens, and other toxins first.

Whaaaaa? Toxins, gut flora? Isn't the basis of this whole site built on a foundation of vegetables? A BAS alone would have 5+ servings. If vegetables don't amount to a significant portion of calories then you might be doing it wrong. Math tells me that 50 to 100 grams of carbs could be 200-400 calories. You spend energy digesting period whether it be veg or meat. Count if it makes you feel fuzzy inside. Whatever it takes to make your goals. Don't guess it will get you nowhere.